Lockdown Day 497 - 5 August 2021
We leave the camp at 7am just as the gates open, the temperature 5°C, dropping to 3°C as we reach the road next to the river bed. The sun had just started to rise and all was still quiet. Here and there we see various antelope and a couple of black backed jackal foraging or on their way to water. We pass the giraffe kindergarten and see two secretary birds on a treetop nest, a vulture and her very small newborn also in another nest. Many Lion spoor were visible on the sandy roads, but sadly we saw none today.
We stopped at Dalkeith waterhole after a couple of hours for a while, after which we started back towards camp. And then we saw a Martial Eagle. Oh my goodness, what a sight this was. It was busy building a huge nest and we got to see how it flew with twigs from the ground into the nest, carefully weaving them into the nest.
As one of the largest birds in Africa, this eagle's unique white and brown spotty breast feathers and cheeky ducktail feathers on the head are unmistakable. The wing span can reach up to 3metres and we saw this bird in action. This was indeed a magnificent experience.
One of the things we also came to see is the Meteor shower on display this time of the year.
If you would like to brave the cold night air and go out on a clear night after midnight, the perseid meteor shower can be seen between 17 July and 24 August. I will definitely be on the stoep of our rooms to do just that.
As the camp's generators are switched off, the camp quitens down and we lie in bed, watching the milky way hanging like a 3D picture in front of our window. The song "Our God is an awesome God" plays in my mind as I fall asleep.
#Ggt
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